STUDY: College Football Bowl Games Boost Local Economies, ‘New Year’s Six’ Bowls Major Beneficiaries

College football’s bowl season means big money for the local economies of its host cities – especially those that host one of the marquee “New Year’s Six” playoff matchups, according to a recent study. (Gators Image)

(FOX BUSINESS) – College football’s bowl season means big money for the local economies of its host cities – especially those that host one of the marquee “New Year’s Six” playoff matchups, according to a recent study.

An analysis of the NCAA’s 2014 and 2015 postseasons found that the 41 annual bowl games had a collective annual impact of $1.5 billion, said researchers Opens a New Window. at San Diego State University and George Washington University.

“We defined it as money that comes into that local economy that wouldn’t have come into it otherwise,” said Mark Testa, a professor at San Diego State’s School of Hospitality and Tourism Management.”

Of that $1.5 billion, the six bowl games that are generally used in the College Football Playoff semifinals – the Peach, Fiesta, Rose, Orange, Cotton and Sugar Bowls – had an average impact of more than $93.7 million, the study found. Those bowl games purportedly generated a total of more than $600 million in outside spending in 2014 and 2015.